A Psychoanalysis of Blogs: The Case study of Linda Ikeji Blog and Nairaland

Preamble

This research is a pragmatic analysis of blogs using Linda Ikeji and Nairaland as case studies. Language as a means of communication plays a vital role in any given human society. The use of language in communication may be within an individual (intra-personal), between two people or groups (inter-personal) or within a group (intra-group) or between groups of people (inter-group). The overall aim is communication in a community that understands the value, culture and the meaning of words and expressions uttered by its members.

The innovation in modern technologies is fast changing the way people interact, work, and learn. A recent addition to the repertoire of computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies is Weblogs. According to Katz (20), “Weblogs also called blogs are web-based journals in which entries are displayed in reverse chronological sequence through which people can socialize online. They contain features that foster both communication and efficient information transmission. Communication using weblogs involves a balance between what the blogger thinks might be relevant to the audience and the reward this audience might obtain.” However, when communication is going on between two parties (speaker and hearer / audience), each of them play a vital role in the communication process and interpretation of meanings. The speaker who is seen as the most active member of the conversation tends to inform, influence and persuade the audience, while the audience in turn tries to derive meaning from what he or she has encoded from the conversation at that given occasion. This is to say that meaning is derived based on a particular situation and context of speech. The study which borders on the use of language in speech community and how meaning is derived
from context is referred to as pragmatics.

Pragmatics in this study, traces the speaker’s (blogger) intentions or locutions when including information in the weblog and the various acts performed by this communication medium. The weblog is used as a blueprint for the actual intended interpretation. With this kind of written communication, the blogger expects to generate interactions when the audience reads it and comments on it. The society we find ourselves, like every other society, has a way of reading meaning to every utterance made by a speaker to his audience. Every utterance is determined by the situation, event or occurrence at a given point in time. This sheds light on the importance of context in the interpretation of pragmatic meaning.

Weblogs like Linda Ikeji Blog (LIB) and Nairaland are public interactive journals—interactive because they facilitate and encourage comments from readers. Linda Ikeji Blog is known as one of the most active blogs in Nigeria with over 85 million registered users across the globe. It was created in 2006 by Linda Ifeoma Ikeji, a 37 year old from Imo State. The blog has grown over the years to become the centerpiece of information and entertainment in Africa. It attracts readers from all over the world, making it the most active blog in Nigeria in terms of community and discussions. Similarly, Nairaland holds a large population of active users who come to read, comment and exchange information with each other. It was created in 2005 by Seun Osewa and currently has over 55 million registered users and more than 16 million unregistered users. Its website is www.nairaland.com. According to Wikipedia, it is ranked the 9th most visited online forum in Nigeria.

Background to the Study

Language is the core of communication; it is a way of expressing views, ideas, wishes and emotions. The use of language has also become deeply entrenched in human culture and apart from being used to communicate and share information; it has social uses such as stratification, grooming, information, entertainment and persuasion. Language has a powerful influence on people and their behaviour. Therefore, the choice of words used in language to convey specific messages or ideas with the intention of influencing people is important.

Communication as a means of transmitting information involves several ways which include both verbal and non-verbal. Communication means giving and getting different amounts of information and various characters and qualities of communicated messages at one time, which is conditioned by many factors such as the time, place and subject matter of what is transmitted from one party to the other in a particular situation. The addressor communicates because he intends not only to exchange information, but he also aims at affecting the behaviour of the addressee. However, when communication is going on between two parties (speaker and hearer); each of them plays a vital role in the interpretations of meaning being communicated. The speaker who is seen as the most active member tends to inform, influence and persuade the listener who in turn tries to derive meaning from what he or she has encoded from what is communicated at that given occasion. For communication to achieve its objectives in whatever vista of life we operate (business, religion, and social, political and economic relationships and others), it should possess certain qualities or attributes of which one of the most important is feedback. Unless a piece of communication receives a response from whom it is addressed or transmitted to, the effect of its reception cannot be ascertained. It is not adequate to simply transmit a message to a person or audience and believe that one has effectively communicated with him or them. The targeted audience may not receive the information or may misunderstand the message. In all cases of communication, some feedback mechanism must be used to ensure that the information communicated has been accurately received. In online communication mediums like the blog, the readers respond to what they read in the form of comments and from their response, we are able to ascertain their interpretation of what the speaker intends. Both speakers and listeners do a lot of things with their words and this is where speech acts come into the picture.
According to Carter and Nash (33), John Langshaw Austin (1962/1975) and John Searle (1979) have presented Speech Act Theory – a viable point in Pragmatics. “Speech acts are uses of language which, either directly or indirectly, commit the user recipient to a particular action”. A speech act consists of “three related acts. There is first a locutionary act, which is the basic act of utterance” Yule (48). This utterance communicates a force of an offer, an invitation or a request etc. which is known as illocutionary effect. This utterance is spoken with some intention which may have effect on the reader; and it is called the perlocutionary effect. The present study intends to pinpoint various acts carried out by users of weblogs in determining their meaning interpretations.

Aim and Objectives of the Study

This study aims at a pragmatic analysis of the language of weblogs. The following objectives will strengthen the s